Water valve for horn-type musical instrument

ABSTRACT

A water valve on a horn-type musical instrument attached to the outside of the instrument includes a tapered plug in a tapered sleeve alongside a hole in the instrument tube which permits water in the tube to escape out of the tapered sleeve when the plug uncovers the hole. The plug is controlled by a mechanical linkage which leads to a position on the instrument where the player normally holds the instrument with one hand permitting the player to manipulate the valve without moving his hand from the playing position on the instrument.

United States Patent Shalek et al.

Jan. 1, 1974 WATER VALVE FOR HORN-TYPE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT [76] Inventors: Ernest Shalek, 33 Evergreen Rd.,

Billerica, Mass. 01866; Roy Trafton, 75 Birch Ridge Rd, Acton, Mass. 01720 [22] Filed: Dec. 4, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 311,697

[52] US. Cl. 84/397 [51] Int. Cl. G10d 7/10 [58] Field of Search 84/397 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,646,059 10/1927 Hebs et a1 84/397 3,625,104 12/1971 Amado 84/397 Primary ExaminerLawrenc e Franklin AttorneyRobert T. Dunn [5 7 ABSTRACT A water valve on a horn-type musical instrument attached to the outside of the instrument includes a tapered plug in a tapered sleeve alongside a hole in the instrument tube which permits water in the tube to escape out of the tapered sleeve when the plug uncovers the hole. The plug is controlled by a mechanical linkage which leads to a position on the instrument where the player normally holds the instrument with one hand permitting the player to manipulate the valve without moving his hand from the playing position on the instrument.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures WATER VALVE FOR HORN-TYPE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT This invention relates to devices for removing water from a horn-type musical instrument and more particularly, to a water valve designed to be readily manipulated by the player without interrupting his hold on the instrument while playing.

Horn-type musical instruments include a water valve located at a U-tum in the instrument tube for releasing water from the tube that accumulates when the instrument is played. The valve is usually located at the bottom of the first U-tum from the instrument mouthpiece at the position the instrument is normally held while playing. Heretofore, this valve has consisted of an opening in the tube and a soft valve disc carried on a lever which is fulcrummed alongside the hole. The lever is spring-loaded to hold the disc against the hole and operated by a key at theend of the lever. This water valve is manipulated by the player who must interrupt playing and reach down to the valve to release the water that collects in the tube. Upon releasing water from the tube, the player then moves his hand back to the normal playing position and continues playing. Heretofore, some efforts have been made to provide a mechanical linkage from the water valve lever to a point on the instrument alongside of one or the other of the players hands where the instrument is normally held while playing. The mechanical linkages suggested in the past are each specifically adapted for operating the lever-type valve on a particular instrument and in each case, the linkage includes one or more rigid parts, the number and complexity of the parts depending upon the location of the valve with respect to the position of the hand. For example, the linkage of rigid elements on a lever-type water valve on a comet or trumpet is not satisfactory for use on a trombone. Furthermore, a linkage suitable for use on an S-shaped trombone where the bell and the mouthpiece are on opposite sides of the main tube, is not suitable for use on a trombone where the bell and mouthpiece are on the same side of the main tube. Consequently, heretofore, there has not been a common or universal form of linkage for operating the water valve on horn-type or brass musical instruments.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved water valve for a horn-type musical instrument.

It is another object to provide a water valve for a horn-type musical instrument adapted to be readily operated by the player without requiring that he remove either hand from the'normal playing position on the instrument.

It is another object to provide a water valve for a horn-type musical instrument which is readily operated by a flexible connection from the valve to a point on the instrument alongside the players hand at the normal playing position of the hand.

It is another object to provide a water valve for a horn-type musical instrument in combination with a flexible control line from the valve to the players hand on the instrument which is suitable for use without substantial change on a number of different kinds of such instruments.

It is a further object to provide such a combination water valve and flexible control line which is operable by the player without removing his hand from the normal playing position on the instrument by the simple action by pressing a button.

Other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following specific descriptions of the embodiments of the invention, each incorporating the principal features of the invention and which represent the best known uses of the invention. The descriptions are taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical trumpet equipped with water valve and flexible control line (mechanical connection) from the water valve to the valve control key or button alongside the trumpet pistons;

FIG. 2 illustrates a typical trombone equipped with an identical water valve and substantially the same flexible control line and a control button providing the player with a remote control for the water valve;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectioned view of the tapered water valve of the present invention attached to a section of the tube of a horn-type musical instrument such as the trumpet or trombone shown in FIGS. 1 and FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the water valve tapered cylinder showing the connector of the cylinder to the instrument tube;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectioned view of the tapered cylinder showing the connector;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partially sectioned view of one embodiment of the water valve control button suitable for use on a trumpet or comet; and

FIG. 7 is a partially sectioned view of a control button particularly suitable for use on a trombone by attachment to the trombone slide handle.

Referring first to FIG. 3 of the drawings, the tapered water valve 1 is shown in cross-section attached to the outside of a section 2 of the instrument tube. The section of tube represents a turn of a trumpet, trombone or any other of the so called horn-type or brass musical instruments such as the trumpet shown in FIG. 1 or the trombone shown in FIG. 2. The valve is preferrably located at a bend such as a U-bend in the instrument tube immediately downwind of the mouthpiece, and preferrably at a low point on the instrument as it is normally held while playing. Such instruments always collect saliva and condensed moisture from the players breath when they are used and this moisture accumulates at a bend in the tube which is usually the first bend downwind of the mouthpiece. For the trumpet, cornet and trombone, and a number of other horn-type instruments, this first bend provides a low point in the instrument tube as the instrument is normally held while playing and so the valve is most effectively used when located at this first bend. I

The valve as shown in FIG. 3, includes a tapered valve housing 3. The inside of the housing defines a conical coaxial cavity 4 on an axis 5 opening at both ends of the housing. A hole 6 in the side of the tapered valve housing leads to the inside of the instrument tube 2 and so when this hole is not blocked, water from the tube can flow out the hole and is discharged from the wide end 7 of the conical cavity. Accordingly, it is preferred that the wide end 7 of the conical cavity be directed downward when the instrument is held in the normal playing position as this will facilitate drainage.

The hole 6 from the instrument tube into the valve housing is defined by a connector 8 which is a short section of tube with a flange 9 that seats in an accomodating recess 11 in the valve housing. One end of the connector tube is flush with the wall of the tapered cavity 4 and the other end is flush with the inside of the tube 2. A tapered valve plunger 12 fits inside the cavity 4 and when seated in the cavity, blocks the connector tube 8 as shown in FIG. 3.

The valve plunger 12 is positioned along the axis 5 by the valve control wire 13 which connects to the plunger at the narrow end thereof and extends from the narrow end of the plunger through the wire guide or seal 14 at the narrow end of the housing. The wire is enclosed by a flexible shield attached to the tubular section 17 at the narrow end of the housing, concentric with the wire and the housing and this shield are attached where convenient to the instrument. The wire and shield are flexible and are referred to herein as the flexible valve control line 20.

When the wire 13 moves within the shield 15 in the direction of arrow 16, the tapered plunger 12 unseats and uncovers the passage 6 permitting water to exit from the instrument out of the wide end 7 of the tapered housing.

The valve 1 is attached to the tube 2 of the instrument at a hole 18 in the tube wall as shown. The attachment may be made by first attaching the connector tube 8 at the hole 18 with the flange 9 of the connector abutting the outside of the tube. This attachment may be made by soldering or braising the connector to the instrument tube or a suitable water-proof adhesive may be used. The valve housing 3 is then attached to the connector by a suitable waterproof adhesive. In order to insure the proper orientation of the valve housing with respect to the instrument tube, the connector flange 9 and the housing recess 11 may be keyed as shown in FIG. 4 so that the housing can be fastened to the connector at only one position. The preferred position of the housing on the tube is with the wide end 7 of the housing pointing downward when the instrument is held at the normal playing position.

The valve housing and plunger may be made of noncorrosive metal or plastic and the connector is preferrably metal. The fit of the tapered plunger in the tapered cavity of the housing may be a close fitting metal to metal contact or the housing may be made of metal and the plunger may be plastic or vice versa. It is also suitable to make the housing of metal and to coat the plunger with plastic or rubber or another relatively soft and/or resilient material to insure that the plunger seats tightly within the housing to close the opening 6.

The tapered valve cavity and plunger shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 are figures of revolution about the axis 5 and so they are cone-shaped. This cone-shaped configuration is relatively easy to fabricate and so provide a close fit of the plunger to the cavity as necessary to insure complete closure of the valve. Other configurations of a wedge-shaped cavity and matching plunger could also be used. For example, the cavity and matching plunger could have the shape of a wedge frustum or a pyramid although these shapes would present some difficulties in fabrication over the cone-shape.

The flexible wire 13 and shield 15 form the flexible valve control line and lead from the valve 1 to a control key or button on the instrument located where the player holds the instrument. On the trumpet shown in FIG. 1, the water valve control button 21 is located alongside the trumpet piston keys 22 which are manipulated by the players fingers while playing. Normally,

a right-handed player holds the cylinders 23 of the piston keys with his left hand and uses the three middle fingers of his right hand to manipulate the piston keys, while hooking the little finger of the right hand in the hook 24. While held in this manner, the instrument is blown at the mouthpiece 25 producing an intensified sound from the bell 26. The first U-tum in the tube from the mouthpiece is at 2 and this is the preferred location of the valve 1.

The preferred location of the control button 21 for the water valve is along the tube at about the position of the thumb of the players right hand. The spring mechanism connection 27 from the button to the flexible control line 20 exerts a holding force on the wire 13 in the line causing the valve plunger to seat in the housing and to so close the water valve. The spring force is opposed by pressing the button 21 with the thumb which unseats the plunger opening the valve. Thus, by the simple maneuver of pressing the button 21 with the thumb of the right hand, the player can eliminate water from the tube without removing his fingers from the piston keys and even without interrupting playing. It is seen, that the button 21 is pressed and this action is facilitated by moving the thumb and little finger of the right hand together while the little finger engages the hook 24. This is a simple squeezing action which can be accomplished rapidly without moving the wrist of the right hand and so the players control of the piston keys is not disturbed.

Clamps 28 attach the flexible control line 20 to the instrument tube and may be attached where convenient to the instrument tube. These clamps need not be fastened fixedly to the control line 20 if the spring loaded connection is fastened fixedly to the instrument, and may even be omitted.

FIG. 6 shows a suitable structure for the button 21 and spring mechanism 27. This includes the button cap 31 at the end of the button piston 32 which slides in one end of the spring sleeve 33 that attaches fixedly to the shield 15 of the control line 20. Between the end of the button piston and the end of the shield inside the sleeve 33, is a coil spring 34. The control wire 13 passes through thespring and the sleeve into the button piston and is secured thereto by a set screw 35. The spring acts between the end of the shield 15 and the end of the piston and so it loads the' piston in the direction of arrow 36 with reference to the instrument. This load is transmitted to the valve plunger via the wire 13 seating the plunger in the valve housing and closing the valve. The plunger is unseated by pressing the button to move the button piston into the sleeve, compressing the spring.

FIG. 2 illustrates a trombone equipped with the water valve 1 and valve control line 20 from the water valve to the valve control button 41, incorporating features of the present invention. The trombone includes a mouthpiece 42 which connects rigidly to a bell 43 by a first handle 44. The trombone slide 45 is a U-shaped tube that slideably connects to the tube from the mouthpiece and the tube from the bell and the slide is also provided with a handle 46 which is usually located at the open end of the slide. For a right-handed player, handle 44 is held with the left hand and handle 46 is held with the right hand and so the right hand manipulates the slide in and out to change the pitch of the instrument. Since the water valve 1 is located at the bend 2 of the trombone slide, the actuating button 41 and spring mechanism 47 for the valve and the control line from the mechanism to the valve must all be carried by the slide. Accordingly, the control line 20 runs from the valve 1 to the handle 46 and is attached to the handle as illustrated in H0. 7. The actuating button 41 and spring mechanism 47 include an actuating button 49 at one end of a piston rod 51 that slides in the end of control line shield 15. The end of the shield 15 connects to an opening 52 in the handle 45 and is secured thereto at one side of the handle. On the other side of the handle a piston guide 53 provides an entrance for the piston. The wire 13 is secured to the piston by a set screw 54 and a spring 55 on the outside of the piston acts between the piston guide 53 and a shoulder 56 on the piston. This spring urges the piston in a direction to seat the plunger in the water valve and so when the spring is pressed by moving the button toward the handle, the plunger unseats and the valve opens releasing water from the tube 2. On the trombone, the button 46 is most easily manipulated by the thumb of the right hand and this can be done without removing the hand from the handle 45.

The foregoing description and accompanying drawings illustrate particular embodiments of the present invention adapted for a trumpet and a trombone, as these are illustrative of the best known uses of the invention. lt is-to be understood that some changes may be made to adapt the present invention to these and other types of horn instruments without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A water valve on a hem-type musical instrument at a bend of the instrument tube comprising,

a tapered sleeve open at one end, attached to the outside of the tube,

a passage from the inside of the tubeto the inside of the sleeve at the side of the sleeve,

a tapered plunger in the sleeve moveable within the sleeve along the direction of taper and which seats within the sleeve at one position therein to close the passage and .which is unseated at other positions therein to open the passage,

whereby liquid from inside the tube flows through the passage and out of the open end of the tapered sleeve when the tapered plunger is unseated, andmeans for actuating the valve by moving the tapered plunger within the sleeve.

2. A water valve as in claim 1 wherein,

the tapered sleeve is oriented on the tube so that said position.

4. A water valve as in claim 3 wherein,

the valve actuating means includes a wire attached at one end to the plunger and attached at the other end to an actuator located at said position of the instrument where the players hand holds the instrument.

5. A water valve as in claim 4 wherein,

the actuator is a piston in a sleeve attached to the instrument at said position,

the piston being attached to the other end of the wire,

whereby the plunger moves in the sleeve in response to movement of the piston.

6. A water valve as in claim 5 wherein,

the actuator is spring loaded to seat the plunger in the sleeve and so close the valve and upon moving the actuator piston against the spring load, the plunger unseats and so opens the valve.

7. A'water valve as in claim 6 wherein,

the actuator is attached to the instrument to accomo date operation by the player by pushing the actuator piston against the spring to open the valve releasing water from the instrument tube.

8. A water valve as in claim 5 wherein,

the instrument has tuning keys nonnally'operated by the fingers of one hand while the instrument is held by the other hand, and

the actuator is located alongside the tuning keys so that the player can conveniently move the actuator piston with said one hand without removing the tingers of that hand from the tuning keys.

9. A water valve as in claim 8 wherein,

the actuator is so located on the instrument that the piston thereof is conveniently reached by the thumb of said one hand without removing the tingets of that hand from the keys.

10. A water valve as in claim 5 wherein,

the instrument is a trombone having a sliding part normally held by one hand at one position and another part including a mouthpiece and bell normally held by the other hand at another position and the actuator is so located on the sliding part that the player can conveniently move the actuator piston with said one hand without removing said hand from the said one position. 

1. A water valve on a horn-type musical instrument at a bend of the instrument tube comprising, a tapered sleeve open at one end, attached to the outside of the tube, a passage from the inside of the tube to the inside of the sleeve at the side of the sleeve, a tapered plunger in the sleeve moveable within the sleeve along the direction of taper and which seats within the sleeve at one position therein to close the passage and which is unseated at other positions therein to open the passage, whereby liquid from inside the tube flows through the passage and out of the open end of the tapered sleeve when the tapered plunger is unseated, and means for actuating the valve by moving the tapered plunger within the sleeve.
 2. A water valve as in claim 1 wherein, the tapered sleeve is oriented on the tube so that when the instrument is in the normal playing position and the tapered plunger is not seated in the sleeve, water from inside the tube flows from the tube through the passage and out of the open end of the tapered sleeve.
 3. A water valve as in claim 1 wherein, valve actuating means extends from the plunger to a position on the instrument where the player''s hand holds the instrument while playing, whereby the valve may be actuated by the player without requiring the player to move his hand from said position.
 4. A water valve as in claim 3 wherein, the valve actuating means includes a wire attached at one end to the plunger and attached at the other end to an actuator located at said position of the instrument where the player''s hand holds the instrument.
 5. A water valve as in claim 4 wherein, the actuator is a piston in a sleeve attached to the instrument at said position, the piston being attached to the other end of the wire, whereby the plunger moves in the sleeve in response to movement of the piston.
 6. A water valve as in claim 5 wherein, the actuator is spring loaded to seat the plunger in the sleeve and so close the valve and upon moving the actuator piston against the spring load, the plunger unseats and so opens the valve.
 7. A water valve as in claim 6 wherein, the actuator is attached to the instrument to accomodate operation by the player by pushing the actuator piston against the spring to open the valve releasing water from the instrument tube.
 8. A water valve as in claim 5 wherein, the instrument has tuning keys normally operated by the fingers of one hand while the instrument is held by the other hand, and the actuator is located alongside the tuning keys so that the player can conveniently move the actuator piston with said one hand without removing the fingers of that hand from the tuning keys.
 9. A water valve as in claim 8 wherein, the actuator is so located on the instrument that the piston thereof is conveniently reached by the thumb of said one hand without removing the fingers of that hand from the keys.
 10. A water valve as in claim 5 wherein, the instrument is a trombone having a sliding part normally held by one hand at one position and another part including a mouthpiece and bell normally held by the other hand at another position and the actuator is so located on the sliding part that the player can conveniently move the actuator piston with said one hand without removing said hand from the said one position. 